The Bottom Line: The Camry Hybrid delivers all the assets of a
hybrid including outstanding fuel economy and basically silent operation
with all the assets of a mid-size sedan. It's a win-win.

My daughter, who drives a two-generation-old Camry, came
into my driveway and immediately fell in love with the design of the Camry
Hybrid. "I like it better than my in-law's Camry (the most recent
generation before this one)." She poked and prodded the car until she was
satisfied this would be the one she gets when her present car wears out.

The latest redesign is almost retro to the late 1990s.
It's a good look. Very conservative.

As with all hybrids, there's the typical confusion when
you push the start/stop button. the only way you can tell if you started
the car is when the "ready" light goes on in the instrument panel.
Otherwise, it's completely silent. If you sit there acting (or being) dumb,
the engine will eventually fire, but the Camry is ready to go when the
light goes on.

There's a theory that you can drive hybrids in electric
mode for a certain amount of miles at a certain low speed. I tried it
several times on my street (where I wouldn't make other drivers upset) and
always kicked the gasoline engine in. I will accept the blame for this, and
keep trying every time I get a hybrid to test.

There's decent power in the Camry Hybrid with the
2.4-liter I4 and the electric motor helping with torque. I confess that I
drove more in fuel conservation mode, but when I wanted power it was there.
That may be why I averaged 38.1 mpg during my test, which I considered a
pretty decent number.

Ride quality is good, as you would expect from a Camry. It
is a comfortable ride without being too mushy. Also, handling is okay. I
wouldn't take the Camry Hybrid out on a race track, but it also won't get
you in trouble if the road wrinkles up a bit from Interstate straightness.

The front seats are comfortable with some side support, to
help in turns. They are heated, and they're almost too hot in "heat" mode.

The rear seats have good leg and knee room as well as a
nice back angle. There are assist handles over all the doors as well as
water bottle inserts in all doors.

Going further back, there's a good trunk. It will hold at
least two golf bags. In addition, there is a release in the trunk to lower
the rear seat backs to extend trunk capacity.

Among the options is a "luxury" interior, which includes
leather seating surfaces. I particularly liked the stitching on the leather
portion of the dash. It almost looked to be Lexus quality. It may be a
small point, but many cars have pseudo leather that looks as if it may have
been glued together.

For storage there's a small glove box. However, there's a
small cubby at the base of the center stack ahead of the shifter that has
USB/AUX and 12-volt outlets. Additionally, there's a nice cubby by the
driver's left knee and a deep center console/arm rest.

For safety, there's a blind spot monitor, which you don't
expect to see in a mid-size car. Oddly, there's a switch on the dash to
disable the BSM. Why?

The smart wheel has audio, phone and info switches. The
standard Toyota cruise control stalk is behind the wheel.

The two cup holders for the driver and front passenger
have an insert that can be removed if you have larger cups or if you want
to use it for carrying stuff.

I also liked the clear navigation/audio screen with
easy-to-program navigation. The HVAC controls are simple, with digital heat
and fan buttons.

There's a reason the Toyota Camry is the best-selling
mid-size car in America, hybrid or not. It is a well put-together vehicle
with all the attributes one would want in a mid-size sedan and a relatively
reasonable price (sure, there's a bogey for the hybrid, but the base price
is pretty good). Throw in the hybrid for the better fuel economy, and you
lose nothing.